Woodinville says ‘yes’ to police surveillance cameras

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

WOODINVILLE — The Woodinville City Council voted 5-to-1 Tuesday to allow police to put up surveillance cameras to help combat crime.

The city will spend $55,000 on the cameras to help solve robberies and other crimes.

There’s not a great deal of crime in the city of about 11,000 people, but the police chief said lawbreaking happens enough that the department could use some help.

“Generally we’re a pretty small department so anything we can use — community support, extra eyes and ears out there on the street — would help us lower our crime rate,” Woodinville Police Chief Sydney Jackson said, in an interview with Q13 Fox News last week.

Not all residents are on board with the plan, citing privacy issues and the lack of a need for the cameras.

“I don’t know where this all ends. How many cameras is enough? How many cameras is too much?” resident Kelly Clinch said.

“I feel safe as is in Woodinville,” said another resident, Clemens Mitchell. “It’s not going to make me feel safer. So, I don’t think it’s necessary.”

Supporters of the cameras include Woodinville business owner Mike Rabas, whose bike shop was robbed in the past. The thief was never caught.

“It’s a bad feeling,” Rabas said. “You come in. Somebody has been in your place. Robbed it out. There’s nothing you can do about it with something small like that. We have a small security system but it was just an in-and-out.”

Details of the camera program are still being worked out and will be presented for approval at a future council meeting.